Chapter 2 - An Old Flame, Reignited

As they were walking to their classes, Jimmy had caught Cindy up on his life thus far.

"Wait, so you're not gonna live off of making crazy inventions?" Cindy asked playfully and kind of shocked. "Kinda surprising since I figured you would've made a fortune out of your work with some fine tuning."

"Funny you'd say that considering you're the one who's always told me my inventions are dangerous and needless," he retorted.

"Oh they were," she smirked. "Doesn't mean there wouldn't be a market for those things."

"Well I've learned some of that the hard way," Jimmy said while scratching the back of his head. "Just thinking maybe being normal won't be so bad."

"And yet here you are back where your reputation precedes you, still probably getting top grades."

"Oh make no mistake," Jimmy laughed. "I'm not letting up on my grades in the slightest."

"We'll see about that. I've been getting top grades throughout most of middle and high school," Cindy mentioned. "So do you have any idea as to what major you want?"

"Honestly, no." Jimmy said sheepishly. "I came in thinking I'd figure it out as I go along."

"Awe, so you came back to Retroville just cause you missed us, huh?" She teased him.

"Well ye-" Jimmy stopped the moment he saw her smirk. I certainly didn't miss that expression. "...Maybe."

"Mhmm," She kept that expression, due to not buying his half-assed answer. "So what'll you do in your free time if it's not your usual science stchick?"

"Well given that it's college, I'm sure there's a lot more fun activities to do than any prior school," Jimmy smiled at the possibilities.

A few weeks have passed since that initial conversation and outside of a few small talk interactions around school, the two of them haven't talked much. That said, she did notice him around campus. She figured she'd see him go to a club or study, but that wasn't the case. One instance she saw him resting his head in the library. Another, she saw him playing on his Switch out on a bench on his own. A few more of these instances happened and she concluded that Jimmy had lost his spark. He ended up not joining any clubs, nor did Jimmy really hang out with her that much. She even asked Libby and Carl if they see Jimmy often. Surprisingly, that wasn't the case. Okay something's up with him, she thought. Despite moving back and seeing everyone, he keeps to himself and doesn't invent things anymore. He's clearly lost his spark. Seems like a good thing, but now he's basically a boring nobody. After thinking this over a few days, she decided to take the initiative.

Jimmy had about two hours to kill in between classes. He was caught up on homework so he decided to scroll on his phone until he found something entertaining.

"NEUTRON!" He heard a voice call out.

"Huh?" Jimmy turned to where the noise was coming from. I wonder why she called my name so loudly. He turned to see Cindy running in his direction at full force. "Hey you don't have to yell-" she ran up to him and tackled him to the ground. Thankfully, it was grass so nobody was hurt. Jimmy had the wind knocked out of him though. "W-what was that about?" He managed to say as she got off of him.

"Just thought it'd be funny to catch you by surprise, haha." She stood up while extending her arm to pull him up. "Alleyoop!"

"Whoa too fast!" Jimmy was just starting to get up on his own when he was pulled up instantaneously. Once he balanced himself, he managed to speak once again. "So what is it?"

"I noticed we didn't have any classes like we used to," Cindy started.

"You don't say," Jimmy sarcastically responded back.

"So how about we study in the library for a bit?" she suggested.

"I'll pass."

"Come on, why?! It looked like you had nothing to do anyway!"

"There'd be no point if we took different classes," he explained. "And besides, I finished what was required. I'll ace the tests without much effort."

Good to see Neutron is as stubborn as always… she thought. Hey, since his ego's usually gotten the better of him, it's time to change tactics! "Wanna make a bet to see if you're still as smart as ever then, Nerdtron? After all, a lot has changed since elementary school."

"What kind of bet, Vortex?" She had his curiosity.

"Let's start with something simple," She then thought. "How about a quick game of rock-paper-scissors?"

"I'm listening. What're the stakes?"

"The loser has to do one thing the winner says. Unless you wish to abandon your pride, do you wanna have a go?" she stated with a smirk. The perfect bait!

"Whether we were kids, or as adults now, there's now way I'll lose to you!" Jimmy said proudly. "Let's go!"

"Rock!" They both put up their dukes. Jimmy thought, Even though this is luck based, I've been able to accurately predict the outcome 89.5% of the time!

"Paper!" Both were about to reveal their move. Jimmy had the biggest smirk in awhile. If she thinks she can beat me, she's got another thing coming! She'd more than likely pick scissors given how she goes up to people. Prepare to be surprised Vortex!

"Scissors!" Both their hands were out. Jimmy ended up with rock. Cindy however, had paper. Jimmy's fleeting smirk left as soon as it came.

"Ha! Guess I win, huh?" Cindy gloated. "Lemme guess, you thought I would pull scissors?"

"How would you know that?!" Jimmy said, feeling stunned.

"You based it on how you remember us from before. So with that in mind, it was highly likely you'd pick rock, so I countered it with scissors, evidently. Who's the predictable one now?" She felt very proud at that moment.

"I've never lost like that in a long time," Jimmy said looking down. It's like she read my mind. then turned to face her, feeling flustered. "I thought that- uh well the old you would-"

"Guess there's a lot you need to learn about the new me, huh?" Cindy smiled. "Now that I won, you gotta do whatever I say."

"One thing," Jimmy grumbled.

"With that in mind, let's go study at the library, shall we?" She motioned him to follow her.

"This isn't over," Jimmy stated as they headed over. "I will pay you back one day!" he declared.

"Oh I'm counting on it!"